


Unraveled

by darkfusionx



Category: Original Story, Original Work, freeform - Fandom
Genre: Adultery, Cheating, F/M, Guns, Multi, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-15 22:30:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8075329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkfusionx/pseuds/darkfusionx
Summary: Welcome to Talia Morelli's life. She is a secretary at a prestigious firm. When she isn't working Talia is a wife and a mother to a pre teen son. She seems to have it all until she meets Peter Grant, a sexy businessman who she begins a tawdry affair. Before she knows it her life starts to spin out of control and she is faced with a decision...to save her marriage or be with her lover. Who does she choose?





	1. The Decision

Talia stood in front of the hotel room door. With the key card in hand, she rolled it between her fingers. She chewed on her lip as she contemplated putting the key in the slot. But something was preventing her from unlocking the door and going inside. Why?

She had come to this hotel so many times. One hundred and eighty-seven times to be precise. However, this time, this visit was different. Something inside of her changed. Talia didn't know when exactly she decided to end this dangerous game. She couldn't even remember how it all began.

All Talia knew that she had to make a decision and fast. What awaited for her inside had transformed her. Talia had allowed herself to give in to temptation. Still twirling the key card between her fingers, she made her decision.

Talia stopped playing with the keycard and placed it back in her wristlet. She sighed as she turned away from the door. She walked briskly to the elevator and pressed the down button.

She shook her head as she turned to face the room she had been standing in front of for ten minutes. Finally the ding of the elevator snapped her out of her thoughts.

The doors opened and it was empty. She exhaled as she pressed the button for the lobby. The elevator doors closed. Temptation will not get the best of her today. She smiled. She had won her bout with sin and was now returning her key card to the front desk.

Talia would not be needing it today. Not tomorrow, not ever again. The clerk at the desk asked if everything was fine? She nodded and slid the key across the counter. The clerk bid her farewell and Talia did the same.

As she made her way through the lobby her cellphone rang. She knew who the caller was by the distinctive tone she had assigned them. A chuckle got caught in her throat as the opening of Hotel California resonated through her pocket.

Talia didn't answer. She also didn't pick up the next three times, the phone rang. All she wanted to do was to get in her car and go home.

Ten minutes later she found herself driving home. With one hand she reached for her cell. It was still in her pocket. She pressed the silent button. It was a precaution. She didn't want them calling her. No distractions. Not now. Not ever.

It was still light outside when she turned into the driveway. Talia turned off the ignition. She didn't want to wait too long. So she claimed out of the car and grabbed her purse. As she walked up to the house, her heels hit the pavement. Her stilettos, her favorite pair of red pumps...that she wore so many times on her excursions, she was now wearing them home.

Talia put the key in the door. She heard the lock make its usual clicking noise. As Talia turned the knob, her heart began to race. She was nervous and thought about shutting the door and hopping back into her car and taking off.

She knew that she couldn't live with herself if she did. After all Talia had two important things to think about. As she pondered, the two important things, one of them happened to be sitting at the dinner table.

"Well, you are back early." The man said as he placed his wine glass down on the table. "I thought you had made up your mind."

As Talia got closer to the table, she noticed that he had dinner prepared for two. Red wine, her favorite, rested on her side of the table. Then her eyes widened as she saw the gun sitting next to his plate. It was 9 milimeter gun. So what he had said was true. He had planned to kill her if she hadn't returned to him.

Fearing for her life was not the reason why she chose to give up her lover. Talia really loved her husband. He had made a life for her and Bobby, their son, in California. He had made his money through illegal means, selling dope and crack to inner city folks. Then he upgraded to heroin.

But his dealing days were long gone, but that didn't mean that Bobby Sr., was a pushover. He still knew how to handle himself in a crisis.

Talia sat down across from him. Bobby continued to stare at his wife, a smile fell across his lips. It was as if to say, 'You made the right choice.'

Talia took a sip of wine and closed her eyes. She relished in its taste. The feel of it going down her throat was heaven. She loved it almost as much as she loved Bobby.

"It didn't take me long to make a decision, Bobby."

"Hmm, atta girl." Bobby responded.

"Can you put the gun away? I don't want B.J. to see it."

"I'll put it away when I am good and ready, sweetheart. For now, let's play a game." He took a bite of his shrimp lasagna.

"Bobby, I don't like games. I'm tired and I just want to-"

"I don't care what you want to do! I'm in the mood to play a game. Now, let's play or else." Bobby's index finger etched closer to the trigger.

Talia swallowed hard. She knew that Bobby had a mean streak, but she never saw it until the day he found out about her betrayal. She knew that he wouldn't hesitate to kill her. That's the kind of guy he was. Bobby wasn't the type to let something like this go.

"What kind of game you have in mind?" She asked nervously.

"Now that's my girl. I thought you would make the right choice. But before we begin, I noticed you haven't taken a bite of my lasagna. Is there something wrong with it?"

Talia looked down at her plate. She wasn't hungry at all. If she refused to eat, Bobby could shoot her. There was no way she could get out of this.

Bobby began to become impatient. She could hear his breathing become short. He was quickly becoming upset.

"Well, go ahead. Don't worry, I didn't poison it, if that's what your thinking. See?" He took a bite of his pasta. He smiled at her showing the contents in his mouth.

She grimaced. "Jesus, Bobby! That's disgusting!"

Immediately the smile faded and he pounded the table with his fist. The gun was near his left hand. He was getting closer to shooting her.

Talia knew she had made a terrible mistake. She had offended him and now she wasn't sure what he was going to do.

"Me, disgusting?! Oh no! The disgusting one here is you! Whoring yourself for another man, while I'm out there trying to keep a roof over your and Junior's heads. But I'm the one disgusting?" He spat on the floor.

"I should have never married you!"

"Bobby, I am so sorry! I shouldn't have said that. I don't know what came over me. I'm just exhausted. I wasn't thinking clearly. I'm really sorry."

Bobby picked up the gun and aimed it at Talia. Tears began to flow as she begged feverishly for him not to pull the trigger. She flew out of the chair and was on her knees.

"I'll do anything you want. Please don't do it. I'll do anything, just please put the gun down. I swear I'll play the game with you. Please!" She pleaded.

There was silence. Bobby sat there in the chair. He placed the gun on the table and gestured for Talia to stop crying. Her makeup was ruined by the trail of tears. Talia got up and sat back in the chair. She used the dinner napkin to wipe her face.

Talia wiped away the purple and black smudges off her face. The napkin was tossed to the side of her wine glass. She picked up the glass and gulped down the remnants of the liqueur.

\---------------------------------------------------------


	2. Hello, Mr. Grant.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talia decides to play Bobby's game. She recalls meeting the mystery man for the first time.

"So, what is this game of yours?" Talia asked she put the wine glass down.

Her eyes were fixed on his. She wanted to study every move Bobby was going to make. This was a volatile situation and anything could happen. He had proven that he had no qualms about shooting her. So if Talia wanted to stay alive, she would have to pull one hell of hatrick to get out of this.

Bobby smirked. He knew he had her right where he wanted her. As long as he kept her on her toes, he had total control of the situation. The proverbial ball was in his court. He cleared his throat and said,

"Well. Since you asked so nicely about my game, this is how it goes. I ask you questions and you provide the appropriate answers. If you answer a question that I find to be false, I will shoot you and splatter your brains all over that wall behind you. Capisce?"

That was it? A game of Q&A? He can't be serious, Talia thought. For a moment, Talia thought this was going to be easy. On the other hand, if she gave a wrong answer he would kill her. Suddenly this wasn't sounding like an easy task. She swallowed. Her throat was dry.

Through the dryness of her mouth, Talia asked in a barely audible voice, "Okay. What do you want to know?"

"I will ask you a series of questions. You are allowed to respond with 'Yes' or 'No.' You are also allowed to give details, if the questions permit you to do so. And if I discover any inconsistencies in your answers...well you know what will happen."

Talia nodded her head in compliance. The room darkened a little from an airplane flying overhead. She remembered when Bobby first showed her the house, she had reservations about living so close to the airport. However, Bobby convinced her otherwise. He had a habit of doing that. The power of persuasion was his specialty.

"First question. When did you start having the affair?" He asked, he moved his hand away from the gun.

"It started a few months ago, in March."

"How did you meet?" He asked as picked up his fork and began eating again.

Talia sighed. "We met at work. He came in one day."

"And? What was he there for?"

"He was there because he had a meeting with Mr. Garnet. I don't know what his meeting was about but, he was annoyed at the fact that Garnet had cancelled on him twice before."

Talia continued, "While he was waiting for him in the waiting area, he asked me if he could borrow a pen. I gave it to him."

Bobby cleared his throat. He stared Talia dumbfounded. He couldn't believe that his wife's affair began all because of a stupid pen. That stupid pen. She had allowed another man to destroy what they had.

"After you gave him the pen, what did he do?"

"I don't know, Bobby. He took a seat and scribbled something on a piece of paper. I don't know what it is and I didn't ask."

"Okay, so did you get to the point of the two of you exchanging numbers?"

Talia closed her eyes. She recalled how she met her lover. His cologne; the smell so sweet and yet masculine. 

His gray eyes gleamed as he placed the pen on the counter. As she reached for it, their fingers touched. Talia pulled back her hand immediately. His touch was warm and friendly. She could see that he was a gentle man.

"I'm sorry." He said.

Confused Talia replied, "I don't understand. Why are you saying your sorry?"

"Oh. I was apologizing for almost kidnapping your pen. I'm afraid you can add 'pen thief' to one of my many faults."

"I hadn't noticed. Sorry. Do you need anything else Mr. Grant?"

"No. I'm fine. But I want to know if Mr. Garnet will be much longer? I have another meeting that starts in the next hour."

"I'll buzz him again."

"Thank you."

Talia picked up the phone and pushed the intercom button. A red light appeared over the button and she rapidly dialed '18' on the keypad. After two rings Mr. Garnet answered. Talia apologized for disturbing him but told him that Mr. Grant was on a tight schedule and wanted to know if he was going to be much longer.

Mr. Garnet grumbled, "I'm on my way."

Talia frowned. She didn't particular like Garnet because he lacked common decency. She knew that he never had a meeting, he just the king of procrastination. But Talia couldn't tell the gentleman standing in front of her that her boss was a grade A loser.

"He is on his way. I promise." She said.

Five minutes later Garnet came out of hiding spot, his office and greeted the man.

They both put on fake smiles. Neither one was really pleased to see the other. After some pleasantries, the two men walked back to Mr. Garnet's office. Talia exhaled.

\---------------------------------

The meeting was barely twenty minutes. Talia looked at the time on her computer. Yes, it was twenty minutes since Mr. Grant met Mr. Garnet.

"I am glad that we could come to an agreement, Peter." Mr. Garnet said, as he shook the other man's hand.

"I'm glad too, Joshua. I think this merger would be most beneficial for the both of us. Well, I better get going, I'm late for my next appointment." Peter replied.

"Oh, yes. Yes, of course. Set up an appointment with Talia, so we can finalize all the details." Mr. Garnet said, as he released Peter's hand and turned towards the direction of his office.

"You got it."

Mr. Garnet was gone through the doors faster than a jack rabbit. Peter shook his head and whispered the word 'putz' under his breath. He saw Talia staring intensely at her computer screen. He smiled as he noticed that her screen was on sleep mode. She had been eavesdropping on the conversation.

"Excuse me, Talia?" He said as he made his way around the side of the receptionist's desk.

As Talia looked up at him, she noticed that he was smiling. She immediately felt like reciprocating the gesture.

"Yes, Mr. Grant?"

"I would like to set up another appointment with Mr. Garnet."

"Sure. One second."

Talia navigated her mouse and clicked on the master calendar. Mr. Garnet was free for almost a two-week period. She wondered what the hell did he really do anyway, besides falling asleep at his desk or calling out sick when a big project needed to be done and he was the one left in charge of operations.

"Let's see here. Is two weeks from today good for you? The 24th?" she asked as her eyes met his again.

"Hmm, that sounds good. I think I have another appointment that day, but I think I could push that about two hours later." He said, as he made a mental note to himself.

"Okay, I'll put you in for the 24th at 10:00 then."

"Sounds perfect. Thank you, Talia."

"You're welcome. Have a nice day, Mr. Grant."

"You do the same, Talia." Peter replied as he bit his bottom lip.

He glanced at his watch. Then, Peter turned on his heels and and exited the building with in strong, quick strides.

Talia let out a breath. A glitter of something shiny caught her at the corner of her eye. She looked down and saw her wedding ring sparkling under the light.

Bobby. She thought to herself. This was the first time she had thought about her husband all day. Talia admitted that Peter was an attractive man, but she vowed to stay true to her husband, even though she had her suspicions about his fidelity. She even wondered why the thought had occurred to her at all? She didn't know Peter Grant from a hole in the wall. 

Despite her suspicions she had about Bobby, the thought of having an affair was something unhappy couples did as far as she was concerned. And she was happy. 

Talia banished any further thoughts about Peter and began sorting through employee timesheets. She was going to keep herself busy until it was time to go home.

Yes, home. She smiled at the thought of her son. It would be a few hours before she would pick him up from his after school program. A few hours before going to the grocery store to make dinner for the three of them. A few hours until, she would return to her roles as a wife and a mother.

\----------------------------------------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mystery man finally has a name!

**Author's Note:**

> I really struggled with the decision to make this a one-shot or a multi chapter story. So, I finally went with the decision to end chapter one the way that I did. I felt that I had enough material to stretch the story to another chapter or two.


End file.
